Tuesday, October 31, 2006

720p rumour fake

The rumours that the latest issue of EDGE magazine breaks the news on the Wii being able to output a 720p (high definition) signal are fake. I just called the newsroom in Bath, England and they confirmed that the latest issue only ever mentions 480p output (enhanced definition).

EDIT Now some people claim that the UK´s Official Nintendo Magazine ran the story. That magazine (also published by Future, plc) just told me they have never written anything about Wii outputting HD resolutions either. It just takes a phone call to debunk a fake story like this one. I don´t know who is making these stories up.Thanks to: Codename Revolution

(Off pic)"Wii games are encoded in Dolby Pro Logic II, a sound system that mimics surround sound from L and R phono inputs. It's"

Then it jumps to what can be seen in the pic.(in pic) "not as good ass 5.1 or 7.1 surround but most people dont have that. You can plug the Wii into any stereo using L and R (red and white) phono leads on the main composite AV in the box. The visual side of things is a bit more complicated. At the time of going to print, Wii games will output in 720i and 720p - 720i is your standard TV picture, 720p is a higher quality signal that takes advantage of the improved picture possible on plasma, progressive scan or LCD displays. If you have one of these TV's you'll need to buy a component AV cable (Nintendo has yet to confirm whether this will be available on launch day)."

The second pic the full page and the third is the front cover of the magazine. The date on it is December 2006.

I assume this is an error while typing and that instead of 720i and 720p they meant to put 576i and 576p (those being PAL standards).

Hi YamNivek. Cool, thanks. I guess these guys don´t even know they made that mistake. Because, like I said, they swore they never wrote that. Sorry for being wrong on that one, but I wasn´t to know. Thanks again.

This is just a guess but it could be a half truth. There will be a DVD playback model of Wii released in Japan only sometime next year. Perhaps the film playback mode supports 720p (not the Wii games). Maybe someone in the know told a member of the media about this (or got a hold of a spec sheet) and they took it has Wii games being able to support 720p. As the rumor circulated it was eventually was carelessly printed and so on.

Okay...if Wii cannot support 720p, why can I play GranTurismo 4 on the PS2 at 1080i if I have the component hook up? Obviously, the game's native resolution is NOT 1080i...but it can pull it off...and quite nicely I might add.

I always wondered since the announcement of no HD support, why devs couldn't still support higher resolutions at the software level?

So far, game makers have also reacted positively to the Wii, partly because the development process will be about $7 million for a typical advanced game — about half the cost of a new game for Xbox 360 or PlayStation, according to estimates from analysts and game publishers. “Nintendo has found a way to engage people without incredibly expensive graphics,” said Robert A. Kotick, the chief executive of the game maker Activision, adding that developers are particularly excited by the Wii controller.

“There is more excitement among third-party publishers about the Wii than there was for the launch of the GameCube,” said David F. Zucker, the president and chief executive of Midway, which will have four games ready for the introduction of Wii, in contrast to one..

I know people are still dismissing these specs for some strange reason, but lets face it, these are it. IGN is very in on the know and have been working closely with developers. The fact that they have a team making a VC game for them is proof enough that they know the specs. The images shown to date are not some kind of Trojan Horse. Live with it or go buy the competitions' consoles.